The present disclosure generally relates to a plate for application to a wrist joint for use in an orthopaedic procedure, and, more particularly, to a wrist fusion plate for use in fusing a wrist joint. The wrist fusion plate may be applicable for correction of bone deformation due to arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory diseases such as rheumatic fever or tuberculosis, genetic disorders of the bone, or for setting a wrist fracture.
In the field of treating wrist disorders (e.g., surgical procedures for realigning misaligned or deformed wrist bones), a surgeon implants a wrist plate and attaches one or several bone attachment members into desired locations on the bones of the wrist through the wrist plate The wrist plate is thus fixed in the desired position such that the bones of the wrist have desired orientations with respect to each other.
However, proper alignment of the bones of the wrist can be very difficult, and any misalignment can result in severe pain to the patient, especially when attempting to use the hand, and may also result in improper healing or fusion of fractured or treated bones of the wrist. Additionally, the intricate network of tendons, muscles, and nerve endings in the wrist joint and the area of the hand can make proper fixation difficult, as the surgeon must be careful not to damage surrounding tissues as much as possible when fixing the wrist plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,413 discloses a wrist plate having portions configured to be attached to a radius and a metacarpal bone. A central portion of the wrist plate is saddle-shaped and configured to be attached to various bones of the wrist, such as the capitate, scaphoid, hamate, triquetrum, and lunate bones. The portion of the plate to be attached to the metacarpal bone is inclined with respect to the portion of the plate to be attached to the radius, such that dorsal flexion of the metacarpal bone with respect to the carpal bones results. The portion of the plate to be attached to the metacarpal bone may also be inclined with respect to the portion of the plate to the attached to the radius in a perpendicular plane, such that ulnar or radial deviation of up to 30 degrees is provided.
When performing an operation of fixing the wrist, proper orientation and positioning of the metacarpal bones with respect to the radius is desired to allow the patient maximum possible usage of the fixed wrist with minimal pain. However, known wrist fusion plates have disadvantages in that it is difficult to position and fix the bones of the wrist and hand in an optimal orientation, as the wrist fusion plates typically have a predefined ulnar/radial deviation and a predefined dorsal/palmar flexion. Therefore, when a patient has an unusual anatomy due to deformation, whether rheumatoid, genetic, or post-traumatic, it can be difficult to obtain an optimal metacarpal orientation with existing wrist fusion plates.